Question About Lighting

[Joe Tony]

Hey guys, I am planning a trip out of country soon, but I don't have an automatic LED light for my 45 gallon long tank, and I'm not sure I can afford one before the trip. I will be out for 5 days, and I was wondering how long corals (soft, lps and sps) can go without light before they start to bleach or die?

FYI we also have a sun roof, so my tank does get some natural light in the daytime in addition to the LEDs I use.


Any help on this would be great.

 

[Fish Fan]

5 days without light is like a stormy week on the reef, this shouldn't be a problem at all, just don't blast them with light when you turn your. lighting back on.

Good luck!

 

[Tripod1404]

You can get an analog timer plug for less than $10 and use it for your light.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

You can get an analog timer plug for less than $10 and use it for your light.

Yes I was like, Hello...
Just think of your light as a X-mas tree and use that timer...
Or, pick up a smart plug and have Alexa turn it on and off for you....

 

[Joe Tony]

You can get an analog timer plug for less than $10 and use it for your light.

Oooh really??? Something like this

Amazon product

Could I also configure it to automatically switch it from white light to blue light, and then turn the blue light off?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I got a wifi plug for $10 also to turn my lights on and off daily. I wouldn't leave my tank dark for 5 days.

 

[VintageReefer]

I got a smart timer on Amazon from kasa. It’s water resistant and two outlets, you set the timer in an app.

 

[Fish Fan]

I got a wifi plug for $10 also to turn my lights on and off daily. I wouldn't leave my tank dark for 5 days.

I've gone on vacations for 5-7 days and left my lights off without any issues that I noticed, but admittedly this was on a softy/zoa tank, so not the most delicate corals to keep. And honestly, that was because I was lazy and didn't have a light timer on that tank, and I was turning it off/on manually each day, and I didn't want to leave the light on for 24 hours for 5 or 7 days straight. If I had a timer, I would have left the lights running on their normal cycle

People often do a 3 day "black out" to knock back nuisance algae. I don't think it's much different than a rainy/stormy week on the reef. Of course, this is just my $0.02, so everyone should do what they are comfortable with.

 

[Reefering1]

Could I also configure it to automatically switch it from white light to blue light, and then turn the blue light off?

Lol. Now you're asking too much.. Unless the white and blue have seperate plugs- then use 2 timers.

 

[Tripod1404]

Oooh really??? Something like this

Amazon product

Could I also configure it to automatically switch it from white light to blue light, and then turn the blue light off?

I cannot see the picture upu posted. But the simplest option would be something like this.

For a relatively small price difference, you can also get an electronic or wifi version.

About blue and white, if the lights have separate plugs, you can use two timers. I haven't checked, but am sure there are also timers with two plugs that you can configure separate schedules

 

[mcarroll]

Timer is a great option, but dark time is unlikely to hurt anything if the tank is stable at the moment.